Thermostatic valve



Jan. 14, 1936.

E. J. TE PAS THERMQSTATIG VALVE Filed Jan. 12, 1933 v4, l r h al I 29 6 INVENTOR Patented Jan. 14, 19,36

UNITED STATES THERMOSTATIC VALVE Edmund J. Te Pas, Rocky River, Ohio, assigner to The Patrol Valve Company, Cleveland, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Application January 12, 1933, Serial No. 651,307

'I Claims.

This invention relates to safety devices for heating appliances which use a iluid fuel and is particularly directed to a fuel cut-oil device responsive to hazardous temperature conditions which are apt to be encountered in the opera.-

tion of the appliance.

It is the object of this invention to provide a combined manually operable and temperature responsive cut-off valve having a minimium number oi parts which may be readily and inexpensively manufactured; the device being of simple construction so as to insure the proper operation of the device over long periods of time.

Stated in general terms, my improved valve l5 comprises in a unitary structure, a manually operable portion and a thermostatically operable portion, the latter of which is under control of a thermostat responsive to temperature conditions of the substance being heated. 'Ihe manually operable valve and the thermostatically operable valve are operatively associated with each other so that the closing of the hand operated valve effects the opening of the thermostatically controlled valve, the closing of which is solely under control of a thermostat associated therewith.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts, hereinafter described, illustrated in some of its embodiments in the accompanying drawing and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a water heater illustrating one mode of practicing my invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged central sectional view illustrating the details of my improved valve with the valve parts shown in open position; Figure 3 is a central sectional view corresponding to Figure 2 with the parts rotate 90; Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4, Figure 2; and Figure 5 is a sectional view corresponding, to Figure 2, with the manually operable valve shown in closed position.

In Figure l, I have shown a conventional water heater merely for purposes of illustrating one use to which my improved control device may be put. The heater illustrated comprises a storage tank I, the liquid contents of which are heated by a gas burner 2, supplied with fuel by way of the conduits 3 and 4, between which I have interposed my improved fuel control device 5.

Adjacent to the burner, there is provided a regulating valve 6 of suitable design for regulat- 55 ing the iiow of gas to the burner 2 as is customary in devices of the type illustrated. The heated products of combination from the burner 2 are conducted from the appliance by means of an internal flue 1, which terminates in a collar 8 which is provided for connection with a suitable 5 vent pipe or ilue.

'I'he water heater is connected to a water supply line by means of a cold water inlet pipe 9 which is provided to supply cold water to the tank. A hot water outlet pipe Ill communicates 10 with the interior of the tank and with one side of the casing of the valve 5, the oppositev side of which is in communication with the pipe II of the hot water system.

The valve 5 includes an integrally formed cas- 15 ing I2 having a water chamber or passageway I3 and a gas passageway I4, separate from the water passageway. The water passageway I3 is in communication with the threaded inlet and outlet openings I5 and I6 which are arranged for 20 connection with the hot water conduits I0 and I I respectively whereby the valve parts are maintained at substantially the same temperature as that of the water in the tank I, the purpose of which will be described in detail presently.

The upper portion of the gas passageway I4 is jacketed or surrounded by the hot water ychamber I3. Within this portion of the gas passageway, I have positioned a pair of bimetallic thermostatic bars I'I, secured at their upper ends to 30 the casing I2 by any suitable means such as the bolts Ila. The lower free ends of the thermostatic bars are circularly curved at I8 so as to provide a holding device for the spherical valve member I9. Immediately below the valve sphere, 35 is a valve port 2li, providing a seat for the sphere I9.

This portion of the device operates in response to the temperature of the water to provide a fuel cut-off device when the water temperature 40 exceeds a, predetermined temperature at which time the lower ends of the thermostatic bars I 'I move away from each other allowing the sphere I9 to drop onto its seat 20 thus cutting oil. the flow of gas between the inlet 2| and the outlet 45 22 of the valve, which are connected to the con- 'duits 4 and 3 respectively.

After the stated operation takes place, the device is then in a. closed and inoperative position. The sphere I9 is raised to uncover its port 2li 50 through the operation of a manually operable valve member 23, under control of a hand wheel 24 which is rigid with a valve stem 25. The valve member 23 is of conical shape and it cooperates with a ported valve seat 21, formed in the chamber 20 which is in communication with the port 2l.

A conical portion 2l is formed on the valve stem 25 intermediate the ends thereof. The valve stem 25 has a threaded portion 29, which engages with the threads formed in a plug 30, threadably received by the casing I2. The plug I0 is further provided with a recess for the reception of packing material Il, held in place by means of the packing gland Il, provided to prevent the escape of gas from around the stem 25 of the manually operable valve.

After the sphere I9 has been released and has droppedinto engagement with the seat 20, gas can be again supplied to the burner 2 by turning the hand wheel 2,4, bringing the portion 23 of the needle valve into engagement with the seat 21, whereupon the valve assumes the position shown in Figure 5 in which the cone 28 engages the sphere I9, raising it to the position shown in this figure. After the water in the tank i has cooled sufficiently, the lower ends I l of the thermostatic bars will shift towards each other'and engage the sphere I9 holding it in the position shown in Figure 2, whereupon the manually operable valve 23 may be shifted to its open position and the burner may be re-ignited, and the device will function to supply gas to the burner 2 until the water again exceeds the predetermined temperature for which the thermostatic bars I1 are set.

From the preceding, it is apparent that I have provided a relatively simple and inexpensive control device which automatlcally servos to cut oil the gas supply to the burner of the appliance in the event dangerously high temperatures are reached by the medium being heated and the device further functions as a manually operable shut-off valve which may be operated in the ordinary manner of such valves to control the operation of the appliance. 'Ihe automatic thermostatic control need be given no consideration by the operator as it automatically functions to protect against overheating of the water in the tank. The arrangement of the valve whereby it is necessary to manually cut-0i! the fuel supply for a period of time before the thermostatic device is in condition to supply gas to the burner is an important safety feature of my improved valve as it prevents the turning on of the fuel either intentionally or accidentally when the tank is in an overheated condition.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the particular forms of apparatus shown and described, and the particular procedure set forth, are presented for purposes of explanation and illustration and that various modifications of said apparatus and procedure can be made without departing from my invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A valve device to control the flow of one fluid by temperature conditions of a second fluid, including a first passageway for conducting said first fluid, two valve elements in said passageway normally open and adapted to close the same, one of said valves when moved to closed position adapted to move the other to open position. means responsive to temperature changes for controlling the closing of one of the valves when the other valve is in open position, and a second passageway for conducting the second fluid adjacent said responsive means.

2. A valve for controlling the flow of one fluid by the temperature conditions of a second duid, comprising a casing having inlet and outlet openings and communicating passageways therebetween with a pair of valve seats surrounded by said passageways, a pair of valve members asso- 5 ciated with said valve seats and normally held in one position, and means responsive to the temperature of said second fluid to cause the movement of one of said valve members to another of its positions, and means for operating the other 10 of said valve members to another of its positions and for moving said first named valve member to its normal position.

3. A valve for use with heated fluid, comprising a casing, a passageway therein, a movable 15 member therein normally held open and adapted to close the passageway, a second movable member adapted to move the first member to open position and to close the passageway, a heat responsive device adapted to control the closing of 20 the first member when the second movable member is in its open position, and means in the casing for conducting the heated fluid adjacent the heat responsive device.

4. Automatic cut-off and manually adjustable 25 valve comprising a casing, a fluid conducting passageway extending through said casing, a pair of valve seat portions disposed in series relation in said passageway, a valve member disposed adjacent one of said valve seats for fluid flow obstruct- 30 ing engagement therewith, automatically operable means for controlling the obstructing position of said member, a reciprocatable valve member disposed adjacent the second of said valve seats for fluid ilow obstructing engagement there- 35 with, manually actuable means for reciprocatably moving said reciprocatable member toward or away from said second valve seat, and means associated with said manually actuable means for engaging said first mentioned member and mov- 40 ing it to its unobstructing position by the continued movement of said manually actuable means with said second member in flow obstructing position.

5. An automatic cut-off and manually adjust- 45 able valve comprising a casing, a fluid conducting passageway extending through said casing, a pair of valve seat portions disposed in series relation in said passageway, a valve member disposed adjacent one of said valve seats for fluid flow ob- 5o structing engagement therewith, automatically operable means for controlling the obstructing position of said member, a reciprocatable valve member disposed adjacent the second of said valve seats for fluid flow obstructing engagement 55 therewith, manually actuable means for reciprocatably moving said reciprocatable member toward or away from said second valve seat, a slack motion connection between said manually actuable means and said reciprocatable valve member 00 comprising a spring and a slidable support for said valve member, and means associated with said manually actuable means for engaging said first mentioned member and moving it to its unobstructng position by the continued movement 66 of said manually actuable means with said second member in flow obstructing position.

6. An automatic cut-off and manually adjustable valve comprising a valve casing, a fluid conducting passageway extending through said cas- 70 ing, an automatically controlled valve for obstructing fluid flow in said passageway, a second valve for obstructing fluid flow in said passageway, manually movable means for adjusting the position of said second valve, means connecting 1| said means with said second valve to permit relative movement therebetween after the valve has been moved to its ow obstructing position, and resetting means associated with said manually movable means for resetting said automatically controlled valve to its open position after said second valve has been moved to its 110W obstructing position.

'7. An automatic cut-oil and manually adjustable valve comprising a casinga fluid conducting passageway extending through said casing, a pair 'of valve seat portions disposed in series relation in said passageway, a rst one of said valve seats adapted to be disposed in a substantially horizontal plane, a substantially spherical member adapted to engage said rst valve seat in ow obstructing relation, a thermostatic bar having a portion adapted to engage said spherical member for normally holding it spaced above said rst Valve seat, a member adapted to engage the second one of said valve seats in ow obstructing relation, and manually adjustable actuating means therefor comprising means for moving said spherical member to its spaced unobstructing position when said second valve seat ow obstructing member is moved to its ow obstructing position.

EDMUND J. TE PAS. 

